Mr Brightside
by Lillypop414
Summary: I was on my bike. Yep. The Harley. I was so in the moment until I realized that I was reeving a silver bell, and the wind blowing my hair was Naruto using Sasuke's hairdryer set on cool. "WHEN IS IT MY TURN, SAKURA-CHAN!" I need a life. SxS AU -HAITUS-
1. Chapter 1

**Mr. ****Brightside**

**A/N**: Thank _The Killers_ for inspiration!

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Chapter One

_**Destiny **_

(_It's calling me, babe)_

* * *

I was on my computer. You know. The old hunk of junk that my mom tries to pull off as a high-tech Apple? Yeah. The thing that's spewing dust as it loads the school's social networking site; my computer (as in not a laptop), I'm using it.

Yes. You read correctly. The school, my school, Konoha School for the Elite (COUGH RICH COUGH) has it's own MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, AIM, or whatever else you would like to use. It's just so much easier to have all your friends on one website than going from one to another because Stacy has a problem with FB since it has lame layouts and it's way too easy to stalk people, Annie thinks that MySpace was built specifically for those stalkers, and you yourself don't want a Twitter because it is retarded to say, "I just tweeted".

Like seriously. What the hell is a tweet? Does that make me a tweeter or a Tweety? I'm not trying to be Tweety Bird anytime soon, thank you; yellow looks atrocious on me.

_**L O A D I N G . . . .**_

I already have tons of friends.

That is the _exact_ reason my inbox is flashing the huge ass number zero right now.

Feel free to gel. It's okay. Jealous is a flattering shade on haters.

_**L O A D I N G . . . .**_

My mother. I guess I should feel badly for making her seem as if she's some cheapskate hobo who travels to train stations on the weekend in hopes of hitching a ride to Peru. However, I really don't feel bad; honestly, I don't.

However, you have to see things from my point of view.

Okay?

Okay, imagine yourself as a seventeen-year-old girl. I am sorry if this is hard for you boys, but, try, try and sprout boobs and shrink your balls for me, okay? Right, so, you're a seventeen-year-old female, who is particularly flat. Your bra size is a measly A cup, just out of training bra sizes. Bikinis are loose in the top area. They are tight in bottom area. Yes, you guessed it; you also have an ill-proportioned sized ass. A bootylicious ass that should not be on your skinny body. You therefore do have curves, since with a big booty there are always bigger hips, and most commonly rounder thighs. _I_ do fall in commonality in this area! I _do_ have thighs! Don't I sound excited?

Forget for a second that I am not directly talking to you. We are pre-tend-ing.

So, your face. Your skin is a beautiful milky shade, and, thanks to the acne fairy, currently no zits plague it. Your nose is one step away from piggish, which is a fabulous thing; because that means that you do have a button nose. Everybody loves button noses. That button nose goes wonderfully with your huge, doe-like, innocent eyes that shimmer a brilliant shade of green with specks of brown and gold in the sunlight. You'd be pretty, shapely, smart, and a real keeper if it weren't for one little thing.

YOUR HAIR—MY HAIR—IS PINK!

Yes. That ugly hybrid that happens when you make red and white mate.

And it's au natural.

_**L O A D I N G . . . .**_

To get to the point that I was trying to reach before I got distracted by my utter awkwardness and akin to fairy-ness, you have to understand why I don't fancy my mother much.

As I said, I'm seventeen, and, as you should've gathered by now, I'm not the most socially connected. To, you know, people. I connect to things like…don't shoot me…nature, and music, and, well, those hot guys on TV that always manage to survive fatal gunshots to the skull just long enough to make out with their girlfriend/s and tell her/them that they really did love her all along.

Ah. I like connecting to them the most.

Anyhow, I'm weird. I guess. I blame a year of homeschooling.

My mom was not weird. She spends her mother-daughter time telling me stories of how she, when she was my age, was always partying, running away, hopping from boy to boy, and, ultimately, running the school. She was the captain of the cheerleading team. She owned _everything_. Her father, and my grandfather, freaking sponsored her whole entire school. She was considered the Princess of Suna before we moved.

PEOPLE LIKE HER ARE MY NIGHTMARE. I mean, seriously. If my mother were blonde, blue-eyed, big boobified and all other things cliché bitch, I would _**move to Alaska**_.

I spend my time trying to become the opposite of what Mom is trying to make me. She's trying to convince me to shop at Abercrombie and Fitch, Aeropostale, American Eagle, and—and when I was actually in child sizes, Justice and Limited Too? Yeah. I don't know how many brand new tops I burned. Call that dramatic. Because it was.

We argue a lot because of that. Well, not the burning bit. I did that when she was at work. We argue about my lack of…relationships, apparently. She says that high school is meant to be a time to gain friends and make enemies, find your backbone and demand your rights. Get a boyfriend or seventeen. Almost lose your virginity. Make out in the janitorial closet. Dye your hair pink.

It was at that moment that I decided that the woman in front of me at the kitchen table, trying to give me a pep talk before the first day of school, was not the giver of my life. She was slurping it away with a bendy straw like the coffee in her customized mug.

_**L O A D I N G . . . .**_

I was riding to school in my kickass bike. It was a Harley-Davidson; 1978. All black, silver detailing. My helmet said that I was 'On Fire'. Of course, it had to match, all black with the words written in orange, yellow, and red. If it were purple with sparkles, it would defy the purpose.

Do you know what else 'defies the purpose'?

I'm not in a Harley-Davidson. Or even a motor scooter. Segways are lame.

But, I _am_ in a two-wheeler. The horn connected to the right handlebar was free.

_**L O A D I N G . . . .**_

I pulled into the bike rack in front of the school, and just as I bend down to lock up my piece of scrap metal—because, though it may be recycled junkyard metal, it _is_ my transportation back home—I feel the presence of a person watching me.

Normally, that wouldn't be weird. I'm at a high school. There are people _everywhere_. Most people just choose not to look at me for that long, especially while I'm bending over in the school's required-to-wear miniskirts, struggling with getting the key out of the retarded lock.

I figured that if I would ignore the peering eyes, they would go away. Maybe they were just admiring my beautiful bike. It's so sexy, in its prime years of rusting and all.

But, after what had to be _minutes_ of me attacking my key out of the keyhole, the eyes were still peering, and my intuition was screaming _PERVERT ALERT, PERVERT ALERT!_

Hesitantly, I straighten, my back cracking a few times as I rose, and I _ever-so-casually_ pretended to observe a tree that was to my left, when I was really stealing glances behind me, searching the parking lot. This, of course, was empty.

I supposed I was being overly hopeful—if you've never even had a decent boyfriend by time senior year, perverts are, like, the equivalent, don't you know?—and I just lugged the strap of my messenger bag higher onto my shoulder, walking with a little less vigor up the school steps than I usually do.

I usually move at the pace of a turtle with _arthritis_.

When I finally reached the top step, a _person_ was actually there. And that person was a _boy_. His hand was wrapped around the golden, curved, handle, strong, pale, and not exactly calloused but 'roughed up'. My eyes traveled up his arm, seeing the crisp white folds of the button-down uniform sleeve rolled up to his elbow, two buttons on the cuff unbuttoned and opened up. His suit coat, black and a sharp contrast to his porcelain skin tone was scrunched up as well, and, stupid me, I couldn't help but follow the intricate seams in the coat up to the shoulder, wide, athletic and muscular, totally broad, and then I reached his face.

AND THEN I REACH HIS FACE AND THE GARY STU METER GOES HAYWIRE!

Nobody should be _allowed_ to be that…that…perfect.

A smirk rises upon his thin, yet totally kissable—look at me, I sound like your average teenager now…ha-ha—lips, and Heaven's Gates open and unleash his voice.

"Good morning," he tips his head a little, silky black hair shining with the change in direction, as he opens the door for me.

Now, this is the part where I'm supposed to say something fladorable. Flirty/Adorable. You know, something that would really put you on the marker of the brain of someone unlawfully delicious.

Instead, I giggle. And giggle. And then I'm clutching my stomach, wheezing out, "You're-you're-_you_ are holding the door for _me_?"

Just in case you're wondering, I did point at him then at me for extra emphasis.

His perfect eyebrow tilts up in confusion.

"I thought that was obvious when I _opened the door_."

Since this stupid streak is going on, psh, why don't I do something unheard-of. Uh-huh. That's right. I stopped laughing and scoffed. "Do you _think_ I'm incapable of opening a door for myself?"

Femininity freaking owns.

He looked taken aback. Surprised. Shocked. Dare I say astonished at my boldness?

"Well, mister, I would like to let you know that," I stomped over to the other huge door on the right side of me and gripped the handle proudly, preparing to pull, "I _can_ open a stupid door all by my—"

You know, they should really put PUSH and PULL on these doors. Somewhere. It _might_ keep people from falling down flights of stairs and on to their asses!

_**L O A D C O M P L E T E**_

**a/n**: Cool? OH! And just in case you didn't grasp it, the narrator is our favorite Haruno Sakura! Next chapter, we'll dive more into the plot. This was, after all, just the first chapter.

WINKS!

~Lillypop414

_**Review, loves!**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Mr**. **Brightside**

**A/N**: Special thanks to all that reviewed last chapter! I'll be able to update generally quickly, like today; there'll be a double! Full details at the end of the chapter. : )

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Chapter Two

**I'm Coming Out of My Cage**

* * *

I am sure you're confused, since I mentioned before that Konoha Elite is an alternative educational system for the rich and snooty, and I'm using old beat up computers, riding my recycled _bike_ to school, locking it up with some random bolt lock I found that kind of sort of fit in with the key I had found the week before by the dumps.

Well, you have all rights to be confused.

I am no longer rich, meaning that, at one point, I was. Excessively.

My parents divorced, and my ditwad of a father did not pay child-support. My mom went from Princess to Duchess to Cook to Maid to Whatever-Is-Worse-Than-That in a span of two years. We moved out of our huge, expansive house in Suna during my first year of high school, to my grandparents' house. It didn't really work out there, seeing as Mother was always harassed for not working as hard as she should be, especially adding in the fact that she did have a fifteen-year-old daughter. Grandma and Grandpa stopped helping her, because they figured she was old enough to afford the McDonald's Dollar Menu food.

Safe to say, we were gone by the end of that school year. For sophomore year, we tried homeschooling. AND THAT'S when I seriously started second guessing my extreme love of my mother. Maybe it was because there was too much time I was spending with her. She was _always_ there. Did she go to work? No. Did her inheritance seriously suffer? Yes.

Anyway, my independence was shriveling to the size of a prepubescent _raisin_. By time I went to high school for my Junior year, I really realized how much Mom had suffocated me. I started rebelling at home, but my inner whatever-ness was released in my English classes, so much so that I was offered a Writing & Literature scholarship to, you guessed it, Konoha Elite. Apparently, Ms. Whitaker, my teacher had connections with the principal of Elite. The plain fact is that I got a full scholarship because of my wondrous talents, which is partially fantastic because there is no way I'm even half as rich as these people are.

Nobody knows that I'm not carrying around twenties as change, and hundreds as one-dollar bills. Nobody will ever find out, either. Why?

They probably won't bother to freaking find out.

_**L O A D I N G . . . .**_

Today, I discovered that this was not going to be a normal high school year. I wouldn't be able to walk through the hallways and, with a few stares at my neon flash light of weird some people call hair, make it to my class. At that point, I would pay attention just enough to do my homework and get no less than a B-, because the subject matter was so simple I could probably just scan over the chapter and ace the test with a one-hundred percent.

No. Nope.

This year, it was going to be different. And not the good kind, either.

_**L O A D I N G . . . .**_

I knocked on the door; a big wooden door, the numbers 107 engraved above the frame, and waited until I heard a muted, "Come in," from the inside of the room. I took a big breath, and then twisted the golden handle, pushing it open in the same movement.

It was if all eyes were on _me_. Because they mostly were.

Silence enveloped the room with my entrance, and I gathered enough courage to scan through the crowd that was staring at me. There were absolutely no ugly people. I expected to see at least one atrocious, otherworldly unattractive face with radiating acne that would glow red, and if you stared at it too long, explode.

It didn't even seem like anyone, including the boys, left home without a decent amount of hairspray and _Chapstik_™.

I was not going to fit in. At all.

The sound of a clearing throat toward the front of the classroom ripped my gaze away from the pupils, and to a man leaning casually against the whiteboard, tossing a blue _EXPO _marker in his left hand, his right comfortably placed in the pockets of dark dress pants, iron creased down the legs. He donned a forest green shirt that I was beginning to learn was one of the school colors, along with gold, and a nice silver watch played on his wrist.

What was most interesting about him, not as if his clothes were the new high point of my day, was that his _hair_ defied gravity, sticking straight up in a messy, spiky modern style. And, it was either grayish silver naturally, or dyed so. I thought he was pretty cool, a teacher's assistant at most with a lax attitude like that, and if all the educators were as laidback, my school life here wouldn't be half that bad.

"Hello, I'm Kakashi," he grinned beneath his mask that I totally forgot to mention, "You must be Haruno Sakura, the new student?"

The bad part about moving to a big city months late into the school year as a senior is that everyone gets ridiculously excited. Murmurs replaced the silence, and I sighed tiredly. He had asked me to introduce myself.

I walked carefully to the middle of the classroom reluctantly, the teacher insisting that I should move more toward the center and get away from the door as if I were going to make a run for it. Which I was so planning to do.

Goosebumps popped onto my bare legs in nervousness, and robotically I turned about face, which earned a couple of dry laughs. I stared at my brand new low-top black _Converses_ fiddling with my fingers to pass the time.

Oh, look! I have a broken nail. Darn…I should get that fixed. Maybe I could go to the nail shop that I saw on the corner by the library after school. I think I should get French tips. Those are always cool, right? Right. Totally. Maybe while I'm there, I can get a pedicure, too—

"Go ahead, Sakura-san." Kakashi-sensei warned, "I do have a lesson to start."

I groaned to myself and lifted my head, only to want to shoot myself. There were so many _people_. My green eyes widened for a moment while I gulped roughly, a nervous sweat started to bead on my brow. Somewhere toward the back, someone coughed, and it was then that I decided enough was enough.

A smile rose onto my face as I waved, all five of my fingers wiggling. "Um, hi. Like Kakashi-sensei said, I'm Sakura," I rolled on my feet from heel to toes, rubbing the lobe of my ear to relax myself. "Feel free to just call me that. I don't need the –sama or the –san, or anything. Um…I used to live in Suna until this year and um…I'm seventeen…"

I glanced to Kakashi then, begging him with my eyes to let me be done already. What else was I supposed to say? The silver-haired man closed a mathematics book he was referencing from with a _slam_, and he raised his eyebrows. "Anyone have any questions for Sakura-chan?"

All hands shot up, and I could only guess that Kakashi had gestured toward a girl in the third row, smack dab in the middle. She had pretty glasses on her face, and bright vibrant red hair. She grinned, "Is your hair really pink?"

My face fell, eyes narrowing deviously, so she added quickly, "N-not saying that it looks fake or anything. My friends and I were just wondering. The loose curls look adorable with the shape of your face, by the way."

I let her slide, since the compliments sounded sincere and it did take me forever to curl my hair this morning.

"Yeah, my hair is really pink. My mom is redheaded and my dad is blonde, so…" I was going to say something Bio-nerd, talking about co-, complete, and incomplete dominance, but I decided against it, "I guess they just mixed like crayons."

She nodded, apparently satisfied with my answer, and the hands were lesser in number, though a few were still raised. I nodded toward a blonde boy with blue eyes like the ocean. He seemed like he was friends with everybody, or at least very friendly. "Go ahead," I said pointlessly.

He smiled an infectious one. "Right, so I was wondering if you have a boyfriend in Suna or—"

The sound of a ruler smacking against a wall slapped, and I jumped, as did the boy, who froze mid-sentence. Kakashi stared evenly at the blonde teen when he reached my side, tapping the meter stick in his hand threateningly with each word he spoke, "Naruto. Not. Appropriate. For. Class." A couple of beats passed, and then he faced me, grinning again.

Split personalities much?

"You can take a seat right there, next to Ino-san." He pointed toward a girl with platinum blonde hair and a twinkle in her baby blue eyes. She grinned and waved at me, looking way too excited for my liking. Either way, the empty seat was a window seat, and I like to space out.

_**L O A D I N G . . . .**_

Ten minutes into the lesson on solving derivatives, I felt a poke on my shoulder from my right, and glanced at Ino with a questioning look, only to see her scribbling points and notes down as Kakashi spoke with her black pen. I rolled my eyes, blaming the wind or something, and focused back to my notebook, only to see a tiny, folded piece of paper right in the middle.

I looked toward the blonde girl again before I unfolded it, and she smiled, mouthing, "Open it."

Shaking my head at being so easily distracted, I unfolded the paper as told, and read the words, formulating my reply shortly after.

_**Hey! You said you were from Suna, yeah?**_

_Yep. _

I wondered for a second if I should right more, but I erased the letters before they could form words. She doesn't need to know why and when I moved if she doesn't ask. I folded the paper back up, positioning it in my palm in a way that hid it when I reached over and pretended to admire her handwriting. When Kakashi turned back around, I dropped the square.

Seconds later, the paper was on the floor near my shoe.

_**That's cool-sauce. At least you moved now, instead of after Winter Break, even though you did happen to miss my birthday. It's fine; I'd rather you come now instead of in March when we're doing midterms and stuff. **_

_Srry I missed your birthday. That kid who asked me if I had a boyfriend or not—his name was Naruto? _

_**UH-HUH. He's such a dunce. Ignore him. His friends are delicioso though. **_

_Delicious? Like…_

_**NO-NO! XP I'm just saying they're hot and delicious like sizzling bacon on a sidewalk in a billion degree weather! Do I look like some slut to you?**_

_…Yes. ^^; just playing._

_**You had better be, Haruno! As I was writing before you oh-so-rudely interrupted me…they're all hot. Especially Sasuke-kun.**_

_Sasuke? _

_**Uh-huh. He's sitting next to the fat kid inhaling potato chips—Choji. You'd be lucky to even get him to **__**talk **__**to you, let alone look. **_

I looked around the room for the so-called fat kid, making a funny face when Ino was smiling smugly, probably proud that she had distracted me so much from learning that I wasn't even trying anymore.

Just three seats away from Ino was Choji, and—and, was that the kid from this morning? He glanced at me, looking back at the board for a split second, only to take a double take, dark obsidian eyes boring into mine. Kakashi's sermon (because that sure wasn't a lesson, let me tell you) drizzled to a quiet hum in the back of my mind, and my head swirled, locked in a trance with him.

He nodded his head in a type of dazed hello, and I smiled back, heart beating a mile a minute. To calm myself I took a huge breath, trying to clear my raging mind. As soon as I exhaled, I grabbed the note-filled paper so fast that Ino jumped a little.

_I must be a freaking four-leaf clover then, because…._

My 'e' dragged on when a shadow hovered over my desk, the silver watch from earlier filling my vision as a hand gripped the note. My stomach plopped to the ground and plummeted through the various levels of sedimentary rock, finally finding its home in the fiery pits of hell.

"What is this, Ms. Haruno?" Kakashi-sensei asked curiously, flipping the notebook paper over, inspecting the pen and pencil decorating it. "Is this a _note_?" A purely evil smile decorated his face while a sheepish one danced on mine.

I giggled. "No…it's just loose-leaf paper with words on it…"

_**L O A D I N G . . . .**_

Ino was waiting for me outside the door when Kakashi let me out after a stern talking to and warning about his strict policy on notes. Usually, he has students read them aloud, in front, loud and clear.

I was a little shocked walking out and seeing her there, her books propped into the curve of her hip, one hand holding them, while she was checking her nails on the other hand. When the big door clicked behind me, she looked up with a smile.

"Ready?" She asked me.

My eyebrow rose in question. "For what?"

Ino flipped her hair over her shoulder, answering my question with a laugh, "Lunch, silly."

_**L O A D I N G . . . .**_

I think my friend count just went up by one.

HOLY.

SHIT.

FUCK.

_**L O A D C O M P L E T E**_

**a/n:** I hope you enjoyed this chapter even though not much happened in my opinion. I promise it will pick up, and it will because I'm already working on Chapter Four, so…

ON TO THE NEXT TOPIC OF DISCUSSION!

Updates, regular updates, should be every week depending on how busy I am. When I say every week, I mean randomly. LOL. As for now, I have a **double update** planned, since I work ahead and will be going on vacation.

Anyway, thanks for all the reviews and support last chapter!

WINKS!

~Lillypop414

_**Review, loves!**_


	3. Chapter 3

Mr. Brightside

**A/N**: **DOUBLE UPDATE! :)**

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Chapter Three

**It's Killing Me**

* * *

Sasuke Uchiha was the type of guy that didn't care if the mayor's daughter would run up to him and drop her panties upon sight. That…was not his problem. He was actually peeved by his incessant numbers of those fan girls. It was the main thing that kept him from his lunch.

"I'm soooooo _hungry_, Teme," Naruto whined beside him, his huge (empty) head slamming against a locker in aggravation.

In all reality, the Uzumaki had eaten just a few hours ago at home, and he had eaten well. His mom was a boss cook, pumping out pancakes, sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, grits, rice, omelets, boiled eggs, and, of course, breakfast ramen. He needed his ramen, plus all that other stuff, on a daily basis. Of course his Mom had help from all the, well, help. There was no way his dad would let his sweetie do all that on her own. No matter how many maids she injured.

Sasuke scoffed, rolling his eyes at his so-called best friend's antics to relieve his hunger, while looking over with ease the fan girls' heads, trying to see where the mob ended. He knew for a fact it began at the entrance to the cafeteria, that's for sure.

There was no point trying to go to another entry, for_ they moved with him_. It was as if he had some type of gravitational pull. Naruto would go on about this theory, saying it had something to do with his ego, but that was absurd.

There's no way his ego is _that_ big.

"Here you go," Sasuke muttered to the girl in front of him, handing her her signed History book and her Sharpie marker. The brunette burst into hysterics, jumping up and down with the textbook, tears sprouting from her eyes as she shrieked the good news.

Seconds later, she was tackled to the ground, hungry girls trying to steal it from her.

Naruto laughed to himself, watching the scene go from humorous to hilarious, extensions and fake nails of all colors flying in the air. "That's such a Freshman move, eh, Teme?"

The Uchiha nodded dryly, leading the way to the now cleared cafeteria entrance. "I suppose so, Dobe."

_**L O A D I N G . . . .**_

After gathering the necessary foods—of what he could eat, considering he couldn't eat much anything with his athletics—from the food line and plopping the green plastic tray onto the usual lunch table, Sasuke took his seat between Naruto and Shikamaru as he does every other day.

Except, the boys around him noticed, there was something different.

"Oi, Teme, why aren't you being super-nerd and doing your homework during lunch like always?" Naruto asked him through a mouthful of French fries. Sasuke mentally noted to tell their coach that Naruto was eating those so he could get extra laps during warm ups.

Instead of a sharp remark, he just glared at the Uzumaki. Stupidity on that level doesn't even deserve recognition.

Hoping his Death Glare™ would end the conversation, Sasuke went back to idly moving the grapes he'd grabbed from home around in the plain yogurt that he'd bought at school. He felt like some skinny girl on a diet, eating like this.

A couple minutes later, a raspy, rough and equally loud to Naruto's voice filled Sasuke's ears. "Yeah, Uchiha, you're acting weird and you shouldn't even be on your man-period yet. Somebody's early…"

Sasuke averted his eyes from the cheap plastic bowl and glared at Kiba. "Shut up, Inuzuka, before I tell your sister what you did with her best friend at my house last weekend."

"Tch. I didn't do anything with Ume last weekend."

"Interesting," He smirked, "I didn't say anything about Ume."

Lips around the table curled up into smiles as laughter erupted, and Neji himself couldn't keep his cool exterior up on that. He released a few chuckles before holding up a hand, somehow shushing everyone. He had as much power over the table as Sasuke did.

The Hyuuga cleared his throat, averting his attention to the aforementioned. "Anyway, I've also noticed that you're acting odd. You couldn't even answer Kurenai-sensei's question in P1. It was as if you were spacing out the entire class period. _And_ you were late, which you never are."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and stabbed a helpless purple grape with a little more force than necessary. He didn't need a _Hyuuga_ to mother him. He was perfectly fine from what he could say. It kills him how much his friends care, sometimes.

Before sticking the poor miniature fruit in his mouth to be chewed and used as an anger reliever, Sasuke muttered sharply, "Whatever. Just drop it—I'm fine."

Eventually, the lunch table went back to normality, Neji reading for his Literature AP class, Naruto and Kiba having random contests that always somehow related to food, Shikamaru sleeping like a log, only to wake up to eat _one_ Lays original potato chip, and Sasuke staring into space.

Only today, he was staring at a certain rosette.

_**L O A D I N G . . . .**_

"You want to go to that thing on Saturday?" Naruto asked, mildly interested with the falling leaves from the trees, watching the red-colored bundles float to the sidewalk while he waited for his friend to answer.

Sasuke shrugged, kicking a particular pile of leaves out of boredom. Today was one of those days that he had to ask Naruto for a ride, since, apparently, Itachi needing his car to drive himself to work was much more crucial than him risking riding in the same vehicle as the blonde idiot. He could _die_, just because Naruto didn't want to run over a stupid squirrel.

They simultaneously stepped off the school sidewalk and onto the black pavement normally called a parking lot.

Naruto whined, "Do you even know what I'm talking about, Teme? Damn, your skin complains about not going anywhere and when I invite it to get some well-needed Vitamin D, it's owner is being a sulky bastard that's scared of all things sun. Psh, fine, maybe your trying to look like that vamp—"

A hand _thunk_-ed Naruto so hard on the head that his neck snapped and his balance was momentarily lost as he stumbled over his feet, using his hands to regain correct posture. He grumbled, "Sasuke! What was that all about?"

The Uchiha shrugged, stuffing his hands back into his pockets to keep them warm in the harsh winds.

"Shut up."

Just when he was about to say something about emotionally constipated bastards that are lucky to have him as a friend, Naruto stopped walking, finally taking in his surroundings. Pulling up the orange hood of his jacket, he laughed sheepishly. "Hey, Teme, I think my car in the North Lot."

Sasuke's face went from impassive to unnaturally pissed off in the remarkable span of three seconds. His bangs covered his burning-with-anger obsidian eyes. "What do you _mean_ you think it's in the North Lot? We were just there, dumbass!"

"I didn't see it there, obviously, dumber ass!"

Sasuke stared at his friend, quarrying himself on the blonde's sanity before shaking his head in shame. Why did he have to be best friends with him?

He turned on his heel and groaned tiredly, "Fine, then, Naruto. Let's walk back now and maybe I might get home before my mom finishes dinner."

_**L O A D I N G . . . .**_

It seemed as if the whole school population was gone by time Naruto had found his Hummer, and the only reasoning for that was the fact that every other car—excluding a few straggling—had long left the premises except for his.

Once Naruto was safely on the road, Sasuke sunk into the light cream-colored leather that somehow remained clean despite how filthy Naruto was. Just when sleep started to take over him, Naruto abruptly stopped. The Uchiha was plummeted to the dashboard, thankful toward the seatbelt because otherwise he would've smacked the glass and probably cracked it.

His eyes widened in both shock and infuriation. "DOBE! What the fu—"

Naruto shushed him, intently observing something outside the window. It couldn't have been anything spectacular, Sasuke deducted, especially considering he had just turned into their subdivision, which they've lived in since…forever. All the houses were still the same, the bushes and plants surrounding the sign that said boldly 'Destiny Falls' remained generally unchanging, and the same cars were in driveways, the same kids that went to elementary school and had already finished their homework were playing in their front yards.

When the blonde rolled down his car door window, Sasuke's curiosity peaked and he leaned forward to see out of it. There was still nothing.

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked, dark blonde eyebrows knitting in concern.

Sasuke slapped a hand over his face. The dobe probably ran over a child.

Out of nowhere, a pink head popped up from into vision, and Sasuke blinked a few times to make sure he wasn't seeing things. She wasn't there a few minutes ago, was she? His mind told him that she wasn't but…then he saw the scratch on her forehead, a little patch of blood covering it, and the all around other dirt scratched onto her arms and uniform. He opened his own window and looked out to see an…unfortunate bike on the ground, near the girl, and a dismembered pedal thrown astray further from the bike. Panic started run through his veins.

Naruto's face fell five feet in upset. "I am _so_ sorry! Your forehead is all bleeding and it's my fault."

The rosy haired girl smiled, shaking her head from left to right. "You didn't do anything. My old bike just decided to lose a pedal and I fell. You just so happened to be driving right behind me." She winked, "It was a good thing you stopped though—Hummer would've broken a couple of bones, that's for sure."

The blonde grinned back, a little blush on his face. "Hey, is that a Konoha Elite un—aren't you in my math class? Sakura-chan, right?"

Sasuke's ears perked up again, and he really looked at the girl. Almost immediately, he was regretting his actions. Opening the passenger side door, he cleared his throat, interrupting her conversation with Naruto.

She turned to look at him, a pink eyebrow cocked in accusation.

"Do you need a ride?" He asked, patting the orange paint of the Hummer. "Naruto won't mind, your bike is trashed, and I wouldn't want to walk on a knee like that."

Sakura looked at her knee just then, as if she didn't notice it before, the flesh exposed, fresh, and bloodied, and all argument she had had before that she was a-okay and could make it a couple of blocks to her house disappeared. She bit her lip before muttering, "Fine. Can I put my bike—?"

"Me and Naruto will put it in the back. Just sit in the car," Sasuke cut her off, "Try not to hurt yourself or get blood on the interior."

_**L O A D I N G . . . .**_

Naruto got out of the front seat, not before smiling widely at Sakura as she carefully situated herself in the backseat, and then slammed the door, grumbling at Sasuke.

"Dude, I don't want a bloody person in my backseat! Even if I almost ran her over!"

Sasuke tossed the blonde complainer the broken pedal without a word, of which Naruto barely kept from crashing onto his face. He scrambled with the rusted metal until it was in his hands comfortably. At that point, he walked over to Sasuke and kicked him in the shin.

Shaking the pedal in the air, he warned, "You do _not_ throw crappy metal at people's faces!"

The second of the two best friends just scoffed, nodding his head toward the Hummer. "Just put that in the back so we can get the bike."

Naruto almost complied, the words making complete sense before he fully analyzed the situation. He stopped just centimeters from opening the back door. "Why are you helping her? I know she's, like, ultra-hot," Sasuke muttered something about idiocy, "and stuff but, come on! I have better things to do than lug around people I barely know that are dirty and bloody! Dad let me get cream leather and—"

Becoming adjusted to the incessant chatter coming out of Naruto's mouth, Sasuke was at surprised when it ended so suddenly, and looked up from the bike—he was trying to remove the wheels—at the blonde, only to see him grinning goofily.

His face remained impassive. "I thought I told you that you don't look like the Joker when you do that, Naruto."

"One," he lifted a finger from his free hand, still grinning, "you know you are lying to yourself and are just jealous because you look like lame-o Batman with a chicken-ass hair growth defect."

Sasuke shot him a glare, popping out the first of the tires with more ease than before.

Completely unfazed by this show of anger, Naruto continued, making a peace sign, signifying his second reason. "And two…you _like_ her!"

The Uchiha narrowed his eyes, furrowing his brow. "Just because I help somebody out that happens to have ovaries, I have to like them? Tch, dumbass."

"Yeah, but, you're a bastard and you actually helping somebody is the same thing as you—"

In lack of anything else to throw, Sasuke grasped the black rubber of the old tire, and hurled it at Naruto. "Dumbass," He uttered at his unsuspecting victim.

_**L O A D C O M P L E T E**_

**a/n:** Man, lol, this chapter was way too fun to write! I love it! Each of every three chapters will have something special, like with this one it's in third person, and chapter five (see, I already know) will be like IM or Chat.

WINKS!

~Lillypop414

_**Review, loves!**_


	4. Chapter 4

Mr. Brightside

**A/N**: Some of you guys leave THE funniest reviews, I swear. Sorry for the wait. I was on vacation! ~.^

* * *

Chapter Four

**Feeling Just Fine**

* * *

I jumped when I heard the sound of something hitting the back of the car, then an ill, "UGH!" as something thudded onto the pavement. My heart pounded hard in my chest. Today was a pretty damn surprising day, so much so that I wouldn't be surprised if Naruto was bleeding at the head right now, and Sasuke was the one holding a bloody bat or something.

I was just about to check, getting up on my knees to peek out the door that Sasuke left open, but then glanced at the nicely kept cream leather that I couldn't bring myself to ruin. For some odd reason, I knew Naruto wasn't the neatest person in Konoha and this was about the only thing he kept clean, and he _cared_ about it as if it were his child.

Well, then. Loving your car that much isn't a tad bit freakish.

Soon after the Hummer bounced down with the added weight of my bike being lugged in the cargo space, Sasuke and Naruto both hopped back into their respective seats, and Naruto turned to me, smiling again.

Would it be odd for me to say that I think he likes me, because I do? I do think he does. Seriously. Nobody smiles that much at me. Not even family.

"Hi, Sakura-chan," he greeted in a singsong voice, "Ya diggin' my ride?"

…there is no reply…

_**L O A D I N G . . . .**_

I looked around for familiar surroundings that I hoped I would remember from the morning, eyeing each house with a critical eye.

Stupid subdivision. All the fucking houses look the same.

When a scary garden gnome that I recall screaming at like a banshee appears I sigh, "Turn left here. I think."

It honestly seemed like we were going in circles and, honestly, we probably were. I had no idea where I was going, and, obviously, neither did Sasuke or Naruto, which was really bad. They'd said that they've lived here since far beyond they could remember, but I guess my vague description of my red and brown-bricked house with the sakura blossom tree in the front and the Voyager parked in the driveway wasn't enough!

Do you _know_ how many black Voyagers I have seen in the last ten minutes?

Drowning in the silence, Naruto cleared his throat. "So…Sakura-chan?"

I was snapped away from my reverie about Konoha suburbia and I raised my eyebrows, murmuring. "Hm?"

He stopped at a crossroads of streets, waiting for me to tell him which direction. I looked around, seeing nothing identifying whatsoever, and I shrugged. "Pick one."

The blonde turned completely around in his seat and stared at me with blue eyes that screamed 'Really? You don't know where you live?' and I nodded, disappointingly agreeing with the suntanned teenager. If I was still unpacking my things, and my only transportation was a now broken bike, would you honestly think I knew my surroundings well enough to give someone else directions?

Geez.

After our little stare off, Naruto settled back into his seat and turned right, towards some houses that had really pretty gardens and plenty of kids in the driveways. I guess this is where most of the families live. At least the younger ones.

"Don't you have a cell phone?" Sasuke asked suddenly, his voice shocking me and Naruto both. I thought that he was asleep, to be honest. Maybe he just gets really silent. Seems like a person who would do that when he's in a sulky mood.

After getting over my surprise, I answered, "Yeah. It's out of battery, though. The charger's still packed up somewhere."

Sasuke made this noise that obviously translated into annoyance, and I went back to staring out of the window.

Damn suburbia.

_**L O A D I N G . . . .**_

It was almost four o'clock when I finally saw a house that resembled what I stepped out of before school.

"That's it!" I yelped, overly excited even for my taste. "STOP THE CAR!"

Naruto punched the brake so hard I slammed into the back of his seat. Let's just say I think seatbelts are lame.

_**L O A D I N G . . . .**_

At this point, I had a throbbing head, a sore, splitting neck, a bleeding forehead, a gushing (you know, dramatics) knee, and Mom would probably have to buy me another button down shirt without dirt, rips, and tears because I'm sure as Hello Kitty that I am not going to wear a sweater vest.

Please.

I climbed out of the back seat as best as I could and I headed toward the cargo in the back, about to retrieve my bike, only to hear Sasuke clear his throat.

"What, I can't get my bike now?" I said, irritated. I'm sure he's a nice guy, really, I am, but, seriously? A girl can do whatever a guy can in heels, a bra, and, optionally, a thong. I would like to see a boy walk through a mall in a G-String. It'll be quite the hilarious.

I was facing him, so I couldn't see his expression, but I could bet thirty bucks that he was rolling his mysteriously dark eyes.

He sighed. "Your bike is broken, Sakura. Naruto's going to fix it."

From inside the Hummer, I could hear a muffled, "WHAT?" and the sound of a fist meeting skin.

These two have to be the weirdest best friends in existence.

A few moments later—I could only guess that they were fighting—I resolved to leaning against the orange H3, picking at that broken nail from earlier today. I also noticed Mom's Voyager wasn't in the driveway, which meant that she was either on the way to Suna to hang out with friends and left a note on the fridge for me, or she was at the grocery store. Maybe both.

I mean, with Mom, it was all over the place. She could be doing something totally uncalled for like clubbing.

"Nobody's home." It wasn't a question, I noticed, and the person was next to me, standing tall beside my petite figure.

My green eyes rolled over in his direction, and shivers went up and down my spine, feeling his gaze meet mine and locking as if we were two oppositely charged magnets. I couldn't will myself to look away, at least not just yet, and apparently neither could he. A flashback of math class went through my mind, and a light blush played on my cheeks. I forced it away by thinking of rabid squirelles, but I still couldn't bring myself to rip my eyes away from the intoxicating gaze. When things got a little awkward, I rubbed my now sweaty palms, pressed them against my thighs, and looked away, sniffing my nose and clearing my throat.

I clicked my tongue against my teeth, addressing his past supposed-to-be question. "Appears so, doesn't it?"

A couple of crickets from nowhere decided to rub their hairy legs together and amp up the awkward factor about twenty degrees.

I wasn't sure if I should leave and steal the key that's kept under the big purple flowerpot on the porch, or if Sasuke wanted to say something, but, then again, I didn't know why I was even _caring_.

If I want to go home, I want to go home. I'm bleeding. I need band-aids, ice, and a bubbly bath!

Just as I pushed off the Hummer, Sasuke grasped my wrist to stop me, but that only sent flaring heat to my cheeks. A faint tint danced on his cheeks, and just as quickly as his larger hand wrapped around my skinny wrist, it left, and he cleared his throat, averting his dark eyes toward his shoes.

"Did you want to say something…Sasuke?" I asked awkwardly, feeling tears tingling at my eyes.

Why? Why? Because I don't react well in embarrassing situations! I don't do good with pressure! I get _nervous_! I have to piss my pants, crap, throw up, and cry all at the same time and it really doesn't help at all because I don't really know these people and their really hot and one of them just grabbed my wrist and it's burning with butterfly heat! I DON'T EVEN LIKE HIM AND I JUST TINKLED A LITTLE IN MY SKIRT!

….right.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out an iPhone—because they are cool especially if they are 4s!—and handed it to me. "Add your number," he said coolly, as if he wasn't being a forward, confident, arrogant person that just knew I was going to do it.

Just when I was about to say, "Um, no," he added quickly, "Since I have your bike. I'll text you when I finish with it."

I nodded then, putting in my phone number quickly and returning him his phone, trying to ignore the slight brushing over our hands and the electrical current that seemingly ran through me at that very moment.

"I thought Naruto was going to fix the bike," I asked.

Sasuke scoffed, rolling his eyes. "He said he doesn't trust himself with a screwdriver."

For some reason I laughed. That shit wasn't even funny! I was smacking myself mentally for being such a dunce, and I rushed my thanks to Naruto so I could make a very important call, avoiding all contact with certain Uchihas all the while.

_**L O A D I N G . . . .**_

I dialed the number on my house phone as quickly as my fingers would allow, not even resting to plop my backpack onto the floor. I listened to the dial tone for exactly fifteen seconds before a chipper, "Hello?" filled my ears.

I took a big breath. "I have to tell you something but you have to promise not to tell anybody because I'm not too sure of it myself."

Ino gasped, "YOU THINK YOU'RE PREGNANT?"

Suddenly, I thought twice about telling Ino that I thought I might have a crush on the _possibly_ most unattainable boy in school after just one day of knowing him.

_**L O A D C O M P L E T E**_

* * *

**a/n:** OMG SAKURA ARE YOU SERIOUS! lol. Next chapter we have online conversations…fun riiiight? Look for it!

WINKS!

~Lillypop414

(Sorry this chapter was shorter, too. D: I feel bad.)

_**Review, loves!**_


	5. Chapter 5

**Mr**. **Brightside**

**A/N**: Here's Chapter Five!

* * *

Chapter Five

**And Now I'm Calling a Cab**

_(Maybe…)_

* * *

**Login?**

**Username: **PinkPanther328

**Password: **

-_**Welcome to **_**Konoha Elite Social System (K.E.S.S. Kiss~), **_Haruno Sakura!-_

***Friends***: _IkN0right_, _|[]-|[], heiressluv12,…_

_**~***__**Private Chat!**__***~**_

**Send Invite to **_**IkN0right**_**?**

…_.Invite Sent…._

**Accepted**

_**PrivateChat Room 3**_

**PinkPanther328: **Ino-chan…can I ask you an itty-bitty teeny weensy bitsy miniscule practically nonexistent favor? PLZ!

**IkN0right:** lol, chill, chica. What is it you want me to do?

**PinkPanther328: **Um…so, you know how on yesterday a really ugly Voyager van dropped me off at school and a weird redheaded leprechaun waved fanatically at me to have a wonderful day and make sure to make more new friends and stay away from drugs and unsafe sex?

**IkN0right:** LOL, I taped half of that!

**PinkPanther328: **…. you're burning _all _of that.

**IkN0right: **No; I'm sending it to YouTube, AFV, and the school's VideoCentral as we speak. I might even give it to Shikamaru to press in the virtual paper next week.

**PinkPanther328: **INO! YOU PIG!

**IkN0right:**That is _not_ how you get someone to do favors for you. (ignore)

**PinkPanther328: **(pleading on ground) I'll give you a pedicure with my PediExpert!

**IkN0right: **…you got a deal if you give me the whole mani-pedi kit. What was it you wanted anyway?

**PinkPanther328: **Fine. And, I don't want to ride with my Mom for the rest of the week, especially considering she did THAT to me yesterday, so…could you maybe help me out?

**IkN0right: **Sure beans. Where do you live?

**PinkPanther328: **Destiny Falls.

**IkN0right: **NOOOOOOO!OO!OO!O!OO!O!O!

**PinkPanther328: **?

**IkN0right: **It's too far away from my house! And I have to pay for my gas and car now since I'm officially 18—stupid you, moved too late to go to my kick ass party!—and I can't afford the extra mileage.

**PinkPanther328: **Where do you _live_? It can't honestly be _that_ far away!

**IkN0right:** You know that Walgreens right by the White Castles on the way to the mall that I showed you the other day?

**PinkPanther328:** Yeah.

**IkN0right: **Over there behind the mall.

**PinkPanther328:** How in the hell do you still go to Konoha Elite? Isn't that closer to Otofuku High?

**IkN0right: **Yeah but I live on the borderline so my parents got to choose. ANYWAYZ. I'm sorry, chica. Don't you have your own car? Why don't you drive the old Voyager? Nobody cares.

**PinkPanther328: **You need to push the backspace button because what you just type-uttered is complete idiocy. What do you mean 'drive the old Voyager'? That is Mom-Car with a time bomb inside. I'm not trying to die! And, I don't have my own car because I happened to crash it my Junior year on the way to a party and my mom doesn't trust me behind the wheel.

**IkN0right: **So she gave you a bike?

**PinkPanther328: **I found it at some dump. T.T

**IkN0right: **Wow,…the PublicChat's finally filling up. Wanna head over there?

**PinkPanther328: **Sure. I'll close this out. Cya soon, bebz.

**IkN0right **_**has left PrivateChat Room 3**_

**PinkPanther328**_** has closed PrivateChat Room 3**_

_~*__**Public Chat**__*~_

**TopRamenKid10: **IKR! And then she's going to go and say everything is peachy-keen even though she was just bitching about me forgetting to turn it off!

**Uchiha2: **I thought we already covered the fact that your mother is crazy.

**IkN0right: **HOLA!

**|[]-|[]: **Hey, Ino. What's up?

**IkN0right: **Nm. What are the bromance brothers arguing about this time?

**TopRamenKid10: **We are _not_ in a bromance!

**PinkPanther328: **Denial. Lol—hey, guys.

**|[]-|[]: **Hey Sakura-chan. I didn't know they already signed you up on KESS?

**heiressluv12**: It is nice to see you here, Sakura-chan :). They sign you up as soon as you register if your parent and/or guardian approves of it. All the student has to do is receive the e-mail and set up a password and unique username.

**Uchiha2: **You would know, Hyuuga.

**B0w-Chika-0w-W0w: **Don't be jealous that they have more school connections than your family does, Uchiha.

**Uchiha2: **…don't you have a dog to rape or something?

**PinkPanther328: **ANYWAY! Who else is on right now and being super creepy not participating in conversation but just watching what everyone types?

**birdinacage65: **I was waiting until _mature_ words were actually being passed.

**BBQch1ps: **There's barbeque on my fingers.

**IkN0right: **Like we all want to know that…

**Over2IQ: **My computer was spazzing earlier. Is anyone besides me going to the Festival on Saturday?

**TopRamenKid10: **Teme and me were thinking about going.

**|[]-|[]: **_Bromance…_

**IkN0right: **Gay Lovin' and it feels so good~

**PinkPanther328: **Lmao, there's nothing wrong with being a guy and having a best friend.

**TopRamenKid10: **Thank you, Sakura-chan.

**Uchiha2: **Hn. Are you going, Sakura?

**PinkPanther328: **I was thinking about going but I don't have a ride.

**|[]-|[]: **I wish I could help you out, but I'm going to be in Sound for my cousin's pageant thing. Such a priss…

**IkN0right: **U already know I can't take you.

**Over2IQ: **I might be able to help you out since I'm giving Choji a ride for Saturday.

**PinkPanther328: **Um…

**BBQch1ps: **LOL, don't worry about it, Sakura. I understand. Most people don't want to be stuck in Shikamaru's mini-car with nothing but me and a bag of chips in the backseat. It's cool.

**PinkPanther328: **Yeah, I'm sorry. : ) I heard that 'The Genius' has millions of tickets for running stop signs anyway.

**Over2IQ: **They show up out of nowhere and my Dad talked to court about getting my license renewed tomorrow.

**heiressluv12: **Would you mind riding with me and Neji? We won't be going until Sunday, though.

**birdinacage65: **Uncle said that we could go Saturday.

**heiressluv12: **He said _you_ could go Saturday, Neji-nii.

**birdinacage65: **Oh. Sorry then, Sakura.

**PinkPanther328: **Naruto? Sasuke? I mean, I could just ask my Mom but…you all remember yesterday, right?

**TopRamenKid10: **Lmao! I taped that!

**PinkPanther328: **…BURN IT! D:

**TopRamenKid10: **Anyway, I can't take you. Dad is pissed because there are mysterious looking bloodstains—I am looking at you, you clumsy little bike rider—in the backseat and demoted me to the old truck. I can only fit one person in there and I'm stuck with my little cousin.

**IkN0right: **AWW! Konohamaru, right?

**|[]-|[]: **He was so cute the last time I saw him. How old is he now, Naruto?

**TopRamenKid10: **Old enough to know how to put me through immense amounts of physical and emotional trauma!

**imabirdinacage65: **Surprising you know words that big and can spell them correctly, Naruto.

**Over2IQ: **Can't be that bad.

**Uchiha2: **He actually is. When did you want to go, Sakura? I'll see if I can take you.

**PinkPanther328: **OMG thankuuuu. Um, can you do Saturday?

**Uchiha2, Over2IQ, imabirdinacage65, **_**and**_** TopRamenKid10 **_**have left PublicChat**_

_**Private Chat!**_

...

….

….

_**PrivateChat Room 5**_

**TopRamenKid10: **Who accepted the invite?

**Over2IQ: **Don't you get a notification in a new window saying who did?

**TopRamenKid10: **OH YEAH! lol. Hi guys.

**Uchiha2: **Dobe. What did you have to say that was so important that you had to make a private room?

**birdinacage65: **I'm curious, too.

**TopRamenKid10: **Sasuke. I'll have to eject you for a second, okay?

**Uchiha2: **What the f—

**Uchiha2 **_**has been ejected from **_**PrivateChat Room 5**

**Over2IQ: **?

**birdinacage65: **Okay…?

**TopRamenKid10: **I think Sasuke is being awfully nice to Sakura-chan…

**birdinacage65: **I repeat: Okay…?

**Over2IQ: **What type of point are you trying to make here, Naruto?

**TopRamenKid10: **IDK. I'm just stating observations. Like today in science, Sakura was spacing out when Kurenai-sensei asked her a question. Guess who helped her out via hand signals? And on Monday, how many glances was he stealing at her in math? HM? And at lunch! EVERY DAY LUNCH! COME ON; you can't pretend you don't notice! He spends the whole forty-five molesting her with his eyes!

**Over2IQ: **How do you molest with eyes?

**birdinacage65: **Exactly—you can't—and besides, there's plenty of reason _to_ be staring at Sakura. If you haven't noticed, Naruto, she has pink hair. I find myself staring at her for minutes on end wondering what happened to her genetics in the zygotic stages.

**TopRamenKid10: **THAT'S NOT WHAT I MENANT!

**Over2IQ: **Then what did you _mean_? Are you trying to say that him actually being nice to someone is insinuating that he has feelings for her?

**TopRamenKid10: **You're not a genius for nothing.

**birdinacage65: **I don't think he likes her, Naruto.

**TopRamenKid10: **OKAY. What points do you have that point to another outcome, HM?

**birdinacage65: **What validation do you have?

**Over2IQ: **Sasuke just texted me that he's going to kill you if you don't let him back in.

**TopRamenKid10: **...He wouldn't.

**birdinacage65: **He just text me and said he was more serious than the acne on your back.

**TopRamenKid10: **:O OH NO HE DID NOT!

_**Sending PrivateChat Invite(s) To **_**Uchiha2**

…**.**

**Uchiha2 **_**Is Entering **_**PrivateChat Room 5**

…**.**

**Uchiha2: **Fuck you, Naruto. Fuck you.

**TopRamenKid10: **You know you want to…

**Over2IQ: **Are you sure you two aren't gay for each other? Seriously?

**birdinacage65: **chuckle

**TopRamenKid10: **Well _I_ know _I'm _not gay because _I_ like girls.

**Uchiha2: **?

**birdinacage65: **You haven't had a girlfriend since sophomore year, Naruto.

**Over21Q: **And the mayor's daughter should hardly count. The slut.

**Uchiha2: **we are talking about girls because…

**TopRamenKid10: **Because we are all best mates and we often do talk about girls whom we all best mates happen to fancy. And, as best mates should, we always tell each other when we have a particular liking toward, I don't know, certain girls whom I've almost ran over?

**birdinacage65: **Subtlety is not your strongpoint, Naruto.

**Over2IQ: **This is going to be interesting.

**Uchiha2: **Sakura?

**TopRamenKid10:** What would make you say that, Sasuke-teme? HM? Is that just the first name that popped into your mind, as if it's always running through it?

**Uchiha2: **Wtf are you talking about, you dumbass

**TopRamenKid10: **Neji, Shikamaru.

**Over2IQ: **What?

**birdinacage65: **Yeah

**TopRamenKid10: **Don't you think that Sakura-chan is like sexy on a sexy stick?

**Uchiha2: **I don't see the point that you're trying to make with this…

**Over2IQ: **She's pretty, I guess…

**birdinacage65**: This is pointless.

**TopRamenKid10: **What do you think Sasuke-teme?

**Uchiha2 **_**has left **_**PrivateChat Room 5**

**Uchiha2**_** is now offline**_

**TopRamenKid10: **He didn't have to be so anal about his feelings. Damn Emo.

* * *

I leaned into my array of pillows decorating my bed, pulling out my cell phone from my back pocket while propping my feet up on my backpack. KESS was practically declared dead right now—the only person who was on was Shikamaru, and I don't think he ever logs out—so me and Ino decided to just ditch and text.

The screen of my rectangular communication device and otherwise deemed BABY lit up as it buzzed, and I clicked the home button, unlocking and sliding up the screen to reveal a QWERTY keyboard in the same motion.

**(555) 293-1928: **_Hey Forehead!_

**(555) 297-4593: **_What's up, Ino? Ugh. I'm so bummed about not having a ride to the Fest. _

**(555) 293-1928: **_Just take your Mom's Voyager! I'm sure she won't mind at all. _

**(555) 297-4593: **_But I do mind. Call it superficial but, geez. _

**(555) 293-1928: **_I understand, I guess. It seemed like Sasuke was about to take you. ^.~_

**(555) 297-4593: **_What's with the unnecessarily placed winky emoticon?_

**(555) 293-1928: **_It's in no way unnecessarily placed. _

**(555) 297-4593: **_Yeah. It kinda sorta is. _

**(555) 293-1928: **_Kinda sorta sorta kinda NOT REALLY. _

**(555) 297-4593: **_he just implied that he would lend me a ride…_

**(555) 293-1928: **_Y are you saying 'just' as if THE Sasuke Uchiha offering you a ride to THE Fall Festival is in no way hinting toward you two being in a relationship?_

**(555) 297-4593: **_Bcuz it doesn't! I don't even like him, Pig._ _I mean, he's cute, but…_

**(555) 293-1928: **_But…you are in such deep denial that you're blind to obviousness. _

**(555) 297-4593: **_You fail to make sense. What's so amazing about that? If Naruto said he could take me, you wouldn't b making such a big deal. _

**(555) 293-1928: **_No. No I wouldn't. The thing is that this is Sasuke, the emotionless bastard, and you're snagging him faster than a fish hook with a meaty worm on it. _

**(555) 297-4593: **_…sure. Either way, I know I don't have feelings for him, so it wouldn't make any difference. _

**(555) 293-1928: **_OH COME ON SAKURA! _

**(555) 297-4593: **_Honestly. I don't. _

**(555) 293-1928: **_Whatever. Have fun swimming in The Nile, tell me how the water is, k? In the meantime, I can't text past 11, so I'll TTYL. _

**(555) 297-4593: **_Sure thing. _

….

….

_30 minutes later_

….

….

**(555) 380-9011: **_Sakura?_

**(555) 297-4593: **_Um, yeah. Who's this?_

**(555) 380-9011: **_Just Sasuke._

**(555) 380-9011: **_Uchiha._

**(555) 297-4593: **_lol I knew which one. Is my bike done?_

**(555) 380-9011: **_Almost._

**(555) 297-4593: **_Oh, okay then. What's up?_

**(555) 380-9011: **_Homework. _

**(555) 297-4593: **_Me too. Math?_

**(555) 380-9011: **_History. _

**(555) 297-4593: **_Number 8 is False. And, not to sound rude, but if my bike isn't finished, why are you texting me?_

**(555) 380-9011: **_I wanted to know if—thanks for the answer. _

**(555) 297-4593: **_No problem. : )_

**(555) 380-9011: **_So…_

**(555) 297-4593:** _…So…_

**(555) 380-9011: **_I actually wanted to ask you something._

**(555) 297-4593: **_I'm all ears—but not literraly. That would look funny._

**(555) 380-9011: **_Yea, it would. _

**(555) 297-4593: **_Lol. What was your question?_

**(555) 380-9011: **_I forgot. See you tomorrow at school. _

**(555) 297-4593: **_…Oh. Okay then. :) Good night, Sasuke-kun._**(555) 380-9011: **_I must be the second biggest idiot in the world._

* * *

**(555) 938-1809: **_But teme if ur teh secnd biggst idiot, thn who's teh frst?_

**(555) 380-9011: **_Reread what you just texted me and take an educated guess, Dobe._

**(555) 938-1809: **_?UGH! idk. Gmme a hint!_

* * *

**a/n: **This was fun to write! For those who've reviewed since the very beginning, I owe you so many cookies! I send you luv!

I have the story plotted out, so far, until chapter twelve, I am almost done with chapter six right now, and chapter seven is already basically in a start, so expect updates to come to a 'sort-of' slow. : )

~Lillypop414

WINKS!


	6. Chapter 6

Mr. Brightside

* * *

Chapter Six

**Swimming through Sick Lullabies

* * *

**

I stared at the phone in my palm for a good ten minutes after Sasuke had texted me. Just staring at it—of course not. Sure, my eyes were glued to the illuminated screen, ignoring the ignored Lit. notes of Neji's that I still had to copy, disregarding the ringing house phone, and damning my television to hell since it was making that annoying beeping noise that it makes whenever I turn to a channel that I _don't_ get.

Don't pretend you don't know what I'm not talking about. Because you _know_ good and well what Mama Saku is talking about.

Bitch.

Anyway, as I said before I distracted myself with my awesomeness, I was staring at my phone, more specifically the chain of text messages Sasuke sent me. It really _seemed_ like he knew what he was going to ask and whatever the wording may've been, it must've been important. He had started to bring it up once before.

Knowing my emotionally deprived brain, I had to hop to the first conclusion that he was going to ask for a booty call. I immediately shot that down, mostly because it is the middle of the week—well, glancing at my clock and seeing the big flashing 12: 02, it is officially Thursday—and I don't think he's the type of guy to tap the ass of a girl he barely knows.

But then again, I could be wrong. Sasuke might've wanted to…hangout? I don't know. He doesn't seem like the type of person that would schedule a future event this late at night. Many possibilities ran in and out of my brain, and, dear Kami, all of them ranged from plain old ridiculous to plausible.

Why the hell was I even thinking so hard about this?

_Actually, I_ could be right. He's a guy, and guys have the raging hormones of a freaking bull. He could've been exceedingly bored, doing nothing but watching free internet porn, and then figured, "Hey? Don't I have that naïve new girl Sakumo's number? Oh—wait-wait, it was _Sakura_. Hm. Sexy. I'll fuck her instead of my Dell."

Right?

Totally.

So I l threw my phone into some random corner that I will, without a doubt, forget about in the morning, and I _will_, without a doubt, spend my morning shower time looking for my cell phone, and then I _WILL_, without a doubt, blame it on my Mother and then force her to let me…let me take a ride from Naruto. He lives around here. And, psh, he owes his life to me, anyway. He almost ran me over.

I went to sleep feeling like I was the shit. Partially because I am. : )

_**L O A D I N G . . . .**_

When I drifted into Dreamland and actually _had _a dream, I was freaked the hell out. This is coming from a teenage girl who hadn't had a real dream since the age of six. Now, the term 'real dream' is most often loosely used.

Look, for example:

"That dream wasn't real; there's no way it'll ever come true."

"It was real, Mommy! You just have to _believe!_"

"But, Honey Bunny, little boys just don't show up at your window sill, call you Wendy, and take you to worlds where fairies fly around spreading pollen and you always stay a child."

"_Father_! Are you saying my _dream_ was fake?"

"No. It just wasn't real."

Okay, so, give me a break. I watched all my old Disney movies the other day while washing the dishes. But, real is, in layman terms regarding a dream, when that fantasy can actually occur. It's possible, plausible, and in all rights of the word realistic.

Usually I just dream about chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream with a wafer cone and my ever-wanted Harley, but that doesn't mean I ever have a chance toward getting it. Well, the ice cream is accomplishable, but…before I go off on some new tangent and forget what the point was, let me tell you something.

The dream I had tonight was real and unreal at the same time!

(I know, you probably don't hear the drama music that I hear right now, but I guarantee you that lightening is cracking outside my window, and vampires are seeping out of my closet.)

_**L O A D I N G . . . .**_

I was sitting alone and looking like I had just finished crying on the top step of the school's stairs, of which I had fallen from the first day of school. A pretty purple notebook rested on my lap, a blank page open, though it wasn't really blank, tears and water stains adorning the page.

The breeze was gentle, full green leaves shaking on the trees, but the sun was still relentless, beaming down without the mercy that would've burned my ivory skin if it weren't for how cold I was feeling on the inside.

I had to guess why I was crying. Maybe I failed a test? Perhaps something was going on at home? Then again, some of the guys at Konoha Elite are as sexy as sexy can get, and maybe one of them had-GASP-broken up with me.

No matter how much I wanted it to be opposite, the last of the three options felt most accurate. It just seemed fitting. You know?

The cars in the lot were all gone, the principal had even went home with all the deans, talking about going out to get "rounds of sake to celebrate the near end of the school year" and there I was. Sitting. Crying. Looking pitiful.

The big round clock above the school entrance rang loudly, announcing the fourth hour, and I sniffed my nose with the _BRIIING_ noise, gathering my backpack and notebook, preparing to seemingly walk home, only to stop, for some odd reason.

Sounds of kids walking by the school came, a teen on his skateboard, obviously a lowerclassmen, whizzed past an old Oak tree, and the sun slipped behind a cloud.

I stared at the Oak tree with longing eyes, my big, emerald eyes widening, and an eventual veil of water lining them. I plopped gracelessly onto the step; almost slipping down them all butt-first, as a toddler would if he or she was feeling particularly lazy or bored, but a hand grasped my shoulder, jerking my fall to a stop.

The person sat down next to me, dark uniform pants coming into my vision from the corner of my eye, but I lowered my gaze, immediately jerking my carnation head in the opposite direction upon seeing familiar worn white Air Force One's, a peace sign, heart and smiley face written in black permanent marker on the side.

I furiously wiped my face, riding it of all tears and rubbed my ear lobe all while ignoring his burning gaze on me.

"What do you want," I managed to ask through all the sniffles and stuffed nose. I'm pretty sure it sounded more like, "Go fuck your mom," but I swear I meant to ask the bastard what he wanted.

…I GIRLSCOUT PROMISE!

He sighed, and I could see him raking through his ebony locks with his fingers, closing his eyes in that I'm-tired-but-I'm-going-to-try way.

"Sakura," my name rolled off his tongue like honey, and sent shivers up and down my spine, "I didn't mean it—not like that."

I remained silent, burying my head into my arms as burning tears dared to slip through my eyes.

Silence enveloped the area, and my throat started itching, searing as if it were on fire. I wanted to talk, no, to yell at him, but I really couldn't. My hands started to get clammy, aching to just _hold_ Sasuke's hand, where it was most comfortable. Where it felt natural.

Desperation, an emotion I thought would never in a million years cross in the Uchiha's emotional vocabulary, laced his voice when he pleaded, "Would you just _look_ at me, Sakura?"

I felt like a child, shaking my head in refusal to just look at him, and I was crying once again now—I could feel my eyes growing red. I sniffled, a useless act just to show my reluctance, and then heaved my head in his direction.

Immediately I felt terrible. There Sasuke was, looking at least half as bad as I did. Dark circles surrounded his impeccably, mysteriously obsidian orbs, which looked all and all tired in themselves, as if he hadn't been to sleep in weeks. Pale skin looked paler, even in the bright sunlight, and his hair—Kami, his _hair_, seemed to lack in it's usual luster, softness, and style.

My heart stung in my chest, I wanted to cry more, and my mouth was left open, stopped cold in the tracks of some snippy remark. Just staring into his eyes—oh my holy shit crap, this better not be true! Why would I get all…_romantic-y_?—I was temporarily happy, and the sadness, anger, and all previous negative emotion left me.

I scooted closer to him, flinching back when he tried to wrap his arm around my shoulder, then sighed, smiling lightly, just to be civil.

He smirked a little, though it didn't reach his eyes.

"I remember when I first saw you," Sasuke started quietly, bearing a small glance at me before apprehensively reaching for my hand. I let him, to which his face lit up. My fingers immediately intertwined with his, like a heavy weight being lifted from my shoulders.

He continued as the wind blew. "You were late to school and Naruto dropped me off at the main entrance while he went to go over to the Athletic Office to pay some fees for all the basketballs he 'accidently' popped," I laughed, wet eyes glittering, "And I was walking through the parking lot like I usually would, and I would've kept on about my own business, except I-well-you were by the bike rack that nobody uses and—"

A blush played on my face. "And you saw my beautiful, gorgeous ass trying to lock up my piece of crap bike."

Sasuke laughed, tipping his head back and covering his mouth, and a ringing happiness surged through me. Almost like adrenaline, but not quite. Nevertheless, I couldn't keep but laughing with him.

When we calmed, he nodded, scratching the back of his neck, pink splashing his cheeks.

"Yeah. Yeah; I saw your...you know..., and just like every other guy in the world, I didn't want you for you at first. That's not quite as embarrassing as falling down a flight of stairs after trying to pull open a push door to prove femininity, though."

I scrunched my nose while I smiled, shoving him lightly, which, even if I pushed with all of my might wouldn't have made him budge at all.

Giggling, I replied, "Whatever, Sasuke-kun. Whatever."

_**L O A D I N G . . . .**_

Okay, so now that I've shared with you my uber confusing and quite uncharacteristic dream, can you _please_ share with me where in the motherfucking world my cell phone is!

_**L O A D I N G . . . .**_

Breakfast with my mother was…odd to say the least.

I normally try to avoid the act of sharing daily events with family as _much_ as possible, especially if that family member happens to be, I don't know, sharing a house with me, and really embarrassing, preppy, and obtains a freaky resemblance of a leprechaun.

If you haven't caught on, or my terrible description has left you wary of your previous assumption of my mother's appearance, I am, in fact, talking about that woman.

She was sitting across from me, daintily cutting up her little buttermilk pancakes without chocolate chips, posture straight, fiery red hair pulled back in an 'office-proper' bun, eye makeup in place. She sipped her 'fixed up' with crème and all that other crap coffee, giggling lightly to herself in giddy happiness and euphoria.

I furrowed my eyebrows, averting my gaze to the side, toward the open kitchen window while I sipped the milk from the cup in my hand with a bendy straw.

When she finished some ten minutes later, she smiled.

"How is school going, honey?"

I swallowed and licked my lips, (not really) pretending to have more interest in the nature and wildlife in the backyard. Oh, look…rabbits…making more rabbits. How enjoyable!

A sigh escaped my lips, "Fine; thanks for asking."

Her forest green eyes drooped some, a babyish pout fixing her lips. She was probably expecting a long, extraneous answer, ranging from the very moments I met each person I now know, their ages and birthdays, parents, and—

"Have you," she smiled widely, "met any cute boys?"

I ripped my eyes away from the bunny loving and sneered—unconsciously of course. Once I saw that she wasn't going to let this question go, that she wasn't some game remote with a skip option during the questionnaire section, I groaned, smiling falsely.

"Yes."

…What? Where you expecting more, too?

Didn't I already explain to you that I _don't_ talk to my mom?

_**L O A D I N G . . . .**_

I found my phone underneath a clothes pile—seriously, I wouldn't have never guessed that it would be there—and scrolled down my Contacts list until I reached the letter 'N', clicking Naruto before I pressed the square between my shoulder and ear. I listened to the ringing while I smiled weakly back at Mother, who was just leaning against the doorframe to the kitchen, trying to fend her off for a little while longer.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Naruto-baka," I greeted. "Can you do me a favor, please?"

A gust of wind grazed my back, swishing my hair to the side. I glanced around, only to see Mother Dearest right next to me, obviously trying to eavesdrop. I almost popped an eye gland trying not to roll them.

"Just because I almost ran you over doesn't mean I owe your life to you!"

I smiled, laughing. "Yeah, it kind of does—"

"NOT."

"Well I'm sorry," I said forcibly, ending his whining on the other end. "But, can you lend me a ride? _Please_?"

Safe to say that a few back-and-forth's later, finding out that Naruto was also letting Sasuke (_joy_, after last night's dream…) and his younger cousin ride with him. If I had other options, I honestly would've taken them head on. From what I've heard about Konohamaru, he's either unexplainably sweet, or explicitly evil. Either way, though, I have to get to school.

Bummer.

I sighed, "I'll see you soon, then, Naruto."

_**L O A D I N G . . . .**_

"Who's Naruto?"

"What?"

"The boy! The boy you were talking to!"

"…a friend I made at school."

"Oh. Okay."

"Yeah. I'm going to go now—"

"Is he like your _boyfriend_?"

I figured I didn't have to explain anything. Not even my boiling anger toward _that_ accusation.

_**L O A D C O M P L E T E . . . .

* * *

**_

**a/n: **I forgot to add 'LOAD COMPLETE' last chapter. Lol. Anyway, I was late today since, unfortunately, my school year is about to begin. I've tried out for swimming and made JV (YAY! go freshmen!) so I'm _really_ busy right now.

I'll probably be busy until the end of October. :( sorry.

Anyhow…onto the story. If Sakura's mom is…over exaggerated, don't worry. There's reason. I kind of wanted to make her an over the top version of Ino for _possibly_ later usage in the story. I have two pathways to go with Mrs. Haruno…

I can't find anything else to talk about…

(**supamegahwinkie**OMG I WONDER IF SAKURA'S DREAM WILL COME TRUE?**supamegahwinkie**)

XD.

LATERZ~~~

~Lillypop414

Winks! 


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